Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Nature is always calling back people who dream to go back to it in its true and pure form. and if one answers back and goes near the Nature, one find oneself amid Heavens – bird chirping, fresh unpolluted breeze blowing amid aroma of fresh sweet smelling flowers and vegetation. This is where the campers find solace from the mechanical life of the cities, the traffic, the horns and cries of the vendors, and from offending people and the always nagging and demanding bosses.

Camping is for people who want to recharge the batteries without needing an electricity source and at almost no cost except of course the fuel cost of driving up to suitable place. Camping also provides a base for other relate d hobbies and favourite pastimes like trekking, mountaineering, fishing, swimming, mountain biking, rafting and canoeing, bungee jumping and much more. Camping is part and parcel of mountaineering as without knowing the art of setting up a camp, one cannot sustain the rigours of the weather high above where no one is available to extend a helping hand.

The ideal camping sites are by the bank of a river, stream or a lake, mountains, valleys, parks or high grounds. Although at some places prefabricated shelters or huts are available for campers, it is lot more fun to establish one’s own camp with portable camping gear, and make food from raw wood available off the land. Camping also provides a rare opportunity to lie under the open sky studded with millions of blinking stars and trying to figure out shapes of constellations like Great Bear and Cassiopeia or make a wish upon seeing a shooting star.

I have been camping for most part of my life as a part of my job and enjoyed every bit of it at places almost in nowhere. From mountains to river banks or along the high embankments on canals and from jungles to deserts, it was all fun. I will share many a anecdote related to my experience of camping some other time.